Home Kim Mulkey Washington Post Story on Kim Mulkey Seems Unlikely to Bring …Washington Post Story on Kim Mulkey Seems Unlikely to Bring …44 minutes ago Sportico.com Share on Facebook Share Share on X Tweet A week after Kim Mulkey threatened the Washington Post with a defamation suit, the story about her was published Saturday.It doesn’t seem defamatory.The much-anticipated Washington Post story on LSU head women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey dropped Saturday.

It doesn’t appear Mulkey’s threats to sue for defamation are warranted.

The story, authored by Kent Babb, is nearly 7,000 words and headlined, “The Kim Mulkey way.The LSU coach holds grudges, battles everyone — and keeps winning.But at what cost?”

The story is a deep dive into Mulkey’s life in basketball.Babb traces the influence of Mulkey’s father, Les Mulkey, on her development as a young player and examines the peaks and valleys of her impressive coaching career.

Mulkey’s Tigers–the defending champs–defeated UCLA 78-69 Saturday to advance to the Elite Eight Monday night against Iowa, an 89-68 winner over Colorado on Saturday.

Although Babb’s story adds new details to a preexisting perception of Mulkey as insensitive toward LGBTQIA+ community members—specifically her players—and writes she is estranged from her father and sister, Tammy, much of the story draws from previous publications, including Mulkey’s 2007 autobiography, “Won’t Back Down,” or from statements made on the record by interviewees.That approach largely insulates the Post from legitimate claims of defamation.It could empower the Post, should Mulkey sue, to invoke anti-SLAPP protections, which guard journalists from intimidation designed to suppress their First Amendment rights, to not only defeat her case but force her to pay legal fees and costs.

Perhaps unwittingly, Mulkey last Saturday increased reader interest by saying she had “hired the best defamation law firm in the country” and would sue the Post if it published a “false story” or “hit piece” about her.There has been rampant speculation about what the story might include, with sensationalist theories ranging from roles in political scandals to even possible crimes.

Instead, the story covers familiar and well-traveled topics, albeit with new details and voices.Babb canvasses how Mulkey, 61, is no longer in communication with her elderly father or her sister.Mulkey’s autobiography mentioned she was estranged from her father, while the sister told Babb she no longer speaks with Mulkey.

The story also retraces Mulkey’s problematic relationship with former Baylor star Brittney Griner, whom Mulkey coached in college.The story mentions Griner writing critically about Mulkey, whom Griner depicts as treating her worse because Griner was gay.Griner also accused Mulkey of instructing gay players to keep their sexuality private.

Babb interviews a number of people, including former Baylor player Kelli Griffin.

While Griffin called Mulkey “an amazing coach,” she also said Mulkey made her life “hell.” Griffin claims Mulkey suspended her after a fight with an ex-girlfriend/teammate but didn’t suspend the other player who had not, like Griffin, come out as gay.

Throughout the story, Babb includes statements issued by Mulkey’s attorneys as well as affidavits they provided to refute various critiques of Mulkey.For instance, included is a sworn statement by former Baylor player Morghan Medlock, who informed the Post she was in a relationship with Griffin, said she never saw Mulkey mistreat Griffin and that Griffin was suspended for marijuana use.

Mulkey would face numerous hurdles in suing the Post for defamation.

For starters, it’s not immediately obvious which statements in the lengthy story could be credibly depicted as defamatory.

A defamatory statement would need to 1) represent a false assertion of fact—as opposed to an opinion statement—about Mulkey; 2) cause her reputational harm; and 3), since Mulkey is a public figure, exhibit actual malice, meaning the Post published the statement with knowledge it was false or had reckless disregard as to whether it was true or false.

Much of the story quotes or describes statements Mulkey wrote in a book or emails, or orally stated to the media.Those statements are not defamatory since Mulkey said them.

It’s possible Mulkey could argue the Post’s use of her remarks are deliberately taken out of context and constitute the related legal claim of “false light.” False light is a technically true statement but is presented in a highly deceiving fashion that causes reputational harm.There is no portion of the story that suggests false light would be a realistic claim.

The story also relies on statements made by others about Mulkey, including critical statements suggesting Mulkey is bigoted toward members of the LGBTQIA+ community and that she’s estranged from her sister.

Those statements are likely not defamatory since they are made by interviewees and, in some instances, the Post includes denials by Mulkey’s representatives.

Some of the allegations could also be perceived as statements of opinion, rather than assertions of fact.It’s also not immediately clear how any of the statements will damage Mulkey’s reputation, which for more than a decade has attracted criticism regarding LGBTQIA+ issues.

The Post also says Mulkey and LSU also declined multiple opportunities to comment.Those denials would make it harder for Mulkey to claim there was actual malice since repeated requests for comment implies the publication did care about whether the statements were true or false.

For instance, maybe Mulkey will now claim her sister falsely told Babb they were estranged.The problem for Mulkey: She could have told the Post that before publication.Mulkey also said the story has been in the works for two years, which signals it probably underwent an unusually high level of editing and fact-checking.

If Mulkey nonetheless sues the Post, it would probably occur in Louisiana, a more favorable forum for the popular LSU coach than any other jurisdiction.But Louisiana, like other states, has an anti-SLAPP statute.

The Institute for Free Press explains Louisiana’s statute calls for the awarding of attorneys’ fees and costs if a lawsuit is deemed to have been designed to interfere with the First Amendment.

A lawsuit would also potentially expose Mulkey to pretrial discovery.She would have to provide sworn testimony and share evidence about a wide range of topics related to the Post story, a process that could prolong the controversy and potentially worsen it.

Chances are, Mulkey will decide that suing the Post over what appears to be a carefully reported and non-salacious story would be an unwise course of action.

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